Feature Stories

“This was like a miracle for us as after COVID-19 we had no way to finance us and we were struggling,” she added.

“When my Rishav continuously got sick, I told my husband that we needed to take him to hospital. The fever would come and go which was not normal. When the doctors advised us that they needed to carry out more tests for my Rishav I was scared because I knew there was something wrong with him.”

A few months after Filipe Baleitavuki was born, his mother Vinaina Tadulala noticed that his pupil- the centre of the iris- was dilated.

"The high hopes with which our ancestors left India for Fiji turned into turmoil, sacrifice, abuse and broken dreams as they were absorbed into the Girmit era between 1879 and 1916. "

Now operating the island’s only shop named after her late husband Jimilai, Sulueti has become a successful woman in business and a source of income for the Ogea villagers.

The secret to success is to start from scratch and for Navneet Shivakaran, the proud owner of Navneet’s Tailoring business in Labasa, the dictum rings true for him.

“We are a village; we are a family. Whether we can follow the language and the dialects or not, our spirits communicate.” PM Rabuka